Russian Troops Mundur Dari Kherson, Presiden Zelensky Call Wilayah Seluas 170 Ribu Kilometer Persegi Perlu Dibesarkan Dari Mine

Illustration of Ukrainian explosive disposal technicians. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

JAKARTA - The Ukrainian president called the mine disposal and technicians deployed to the area left by Russian troops in Kherson, as officials worried about the mines left by the Moscow army.

Ukrainian troops have released 41 settlements as they advance through the south, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address late Thursday.

Mining props and battle technicians were sent to areas being recaptured from Russian troops, to clear the region from thousands of unexploded landmines to abandoned weapons.

"About 170,000 square kilometers (66.000 square miles) still have to be cleared of mines," President Zelensky said.

"Including in places where there is still fighting and where the enemy will add landmines before its withdrawal, as it is now with Kherson," he said.

The Ukrainian-appointed governor in the region, Yaroslav Yanushevych, wrote on the Telegram messaging app, saying Russian forces had "packed public equipment, damaged power lines and wanted to leave a trap behind them".

Separately, Mykhailo Podolyak, President Zelensky's adviser, said Russia wanted to turn Kherson into a city of death, leaving mines from apartments to ditches, planning to destroy the city from the other side of the river.

Meanwhile, Russia denies attacking civilians despite bombarding residential areas during the conflict. They have evacuated thousands of civilians from the Kherson area.

It said that if Russia implemented its withdrawal from the area where President Vladimir Putin said it was annexed a month ago, it would be its biggest setback since its troops were expelled from the Kyiv outskirts in March and a clear setback in the nine-month war momentum.

Separately, Russian state media and pro-Kremlin war figures defended the withdrawal from Kherson as a necessary move, despite admitting it was a heavy blow.

However, Russian forces still maintain another advantage in the south, including an important land route that connects Russia to the Crimean peninsula it seized in 2014, and cities in the east that they largely destroyed while capturing it.